u/jtb98

As the title states, my landlord/building owner has connected 3 of the 6 hot water heaters in the building to a shared line that supplies the communal washing machine and utility sink. There is no mention of this in the lease and tenants pay their own utilities. In addition, it looks like gas for the dryer is being siphoned off of just one unit's meter. On top of that, this is a coin operated machine, so a "double" charge for laundry. However, the lease also has no mention of the communal washer/dryer altogether.

Curious as to what the legality of this is. To me it seems illegal to have tenants unknowingly subsidize the cost of utilities for the washer and dryer, and the apartment should have a house hot water heater and gas meter just like there's a building electric meter seperate from each apartments'.

Wondering what the best order of operations is here - should I ask for the lease to be modified to include shared laundry facilities before addressing the main issue to avoid them being taken away/disconnected in retaliation or in the event the setup is illegal and they decide to not get a dedicated hot water heater? Not sure if it's best to contact the landlord first and then the city inspector if they don't respond?

Fortunately, doesn't seem like my gas bill is impacted much or at all, however, my hot water temperature is super hot even when I set the temperature control lower which makes me think I might be tapping into another unit's hot water due to the shared connection that was created. More than anything, it's the principle of it and the fact that some unit is being unfairly impacted by this more than others.

Thanks for any help!